Alain Séchas

Surprising, subversive and full of humor, Alain Séchas’ works attract and intrigue with their folding and unfolding. They seem to add subjects which are unexpected in the realm of contemporary art to the fast beat of drawing. If we take away the essence of its context, which gives meaning to all of its figures, the works take on a material, and sometimes sonorous dimension to their volume inflated with air.

His choice of materials-colored Plexiglas, polyester coated with white satin material-imparts lightness to his works. His sensuality, his skill at creating a link with the colors of their exhibition environment, the transparency of Plexiglas and the white/crimson reflection of the volumes are transfixed by the violence of their titles: Viol no. 1, Vous me faites horreur, La Pieuvre, Les fleurs Carnivores, Professeur Suicide. Like the images towards which they are directed, these titles stress the importance of immediate interpretation. (…)

Press Release

Alain Séchas

Surprising, subversive and full of humor, Alain Séchas’ works attract and intrigue with their folding and unfolding. They seem to add subjects which are unexpected in the realm of contemporary art to the fast beat of drawing. If we take away the essence of its context, which gives meaning to all of its figures, the works take on a material, and sometimes sonorous dimension to their volume inflated with air. His choice of materials-colored Plexiglas, polyester coated with white satin material-imparts lightness to his works. His sensuality, his skill at creating a link with the colors of their exhibition environment, the transparency of Plexiglas and the white/crimson reflection of the volumes are transfixed by the violence of their titles: Viol no. 1, Vous me faites horreur, La Pieuvre, Les fleurs Carnivores, Professeur Suicide. Like the images towards which they are directed, these titles stress the importance of immediate interpretation. This characteristic conveys a desire to offer the artwork to a broad range of people, to break the discursive and exclusive relationship which is normally restricted to the sphere of art. An artist well aware of his responsibility, Alain Séchas is very conscious of the work he creates. He confers a deep ethic quality to them which, in all of the lightness of the shapes he creates and of his sense of humor. His art offers itself to the world and participates in structuring mobile territories, with future potential. The degree of legibility of the work, its visual, sonorous and tactile drawing power, their capability to touch all senses produce an impact on the viewer. This is a major feature of his work, according to the artist himself, in an interview given to Catherine Francblin: “My purpose is always to create a direct confrontation between the work and the spectator…. I want to dazzle the spectator, to become breathless, opened-eyed, take a deep breath, and that he be struck by the impression that the work is not a mystery, but rather a small enigma, like in the writings of Henry James. I try to place the viewer in a position that does not allow him to gain distance, that makes him
take responsibility.